Pleasance the Police Car
Pleasance the Police Car is the sixth episode of the first season. Plot One foggy morning in Raleigh yard, Warrick is dozing in a siding when James backs past him. He whistles loudly, waking Warrick up and telling him to get to work, chuckling to himself as he did so. Warrick, annoyed, goes back to sleep as James is coupled to a long drag freight. He sets off after an air test and inspection have been performed, passing Warrick - now awake and working - on his way out. Once on the line, James works up to speed, passing by Vito and Murphy as he does so. Once on the main, he passes through several stations, working up to an even higher speed as he does. However, down the line, his driver begins to have problems. At first, he says he feels faint and the fireman, concerned, slows James. James is similarly concerned. Then, his driver collapses in the cab and the fireman immediately brings James to a stop. The conductor walks forward from the caboose to see what has happened, and James's tender, Frank, informs him of the situation. He goes off to find a telephone box while the fireman brings the driver down to the ground, laying him in a field next to the track. Eventually, Pleasance, the sheriff's police car, shows up to take the driver to the hospital. James, a good friend of Pleasance, says hello to her before she drives off. After a while, Harry brings a relief driver for James and he completes his journey in silence. Later on in the yards, Pleasance brings the sheriff to converse with James's fireman. She tells James that his driver has been poisoned, and that the sheriff is trying to find out who would gain from his demise. He is in critical condition in the hospital, meaning that Pleasance is unsure whether he will survive or not. This news leaves James distraught, and the other engines attempt to comfort him. A few days later, James is struggling to make steam. He is too upset to work properly, and the fireman eventually gives up and leaves him, with other engines being assigned to his trains. James thinks over the past few days, before finally remembering the events of Robert's Brush Fire, where Robert believed that James passing him with a train caused the brush fire that almost destroyed Robert deliberately. James begins to feel anger with Robert, and says nothing to him when he passes by the next day. Later, James begins to have an angry fire which threatens to expose his crown sheet, forcing his new driver to leave him in a siding until his fire calms down. Frank tries to get James to calm down, and James tells her that he suspects Robert has something to do with his driver's poisoning. Frank is surprised but begins to contemplate the idea himself. The episode ends with Pleasance overhearing the sheriff talking about the case of James's driver's poisoning. Though she is barely able to hear the sheriff because he has parked her near a rail line, she is able to make out a mention of Robert's driver's name - Steven Black. Category:Episodes Category:Season One